‘A pain in the ass’ – How a row with Johnny Sexton put Paddy McCarthy on Ireland and Andy Farrell’s radar

‘A pain in the ass’ – How a row with Johnny Sexton put Paddy McCarthy on Ireland and Andy Farrell’s radar

Joe’s younger brother didn’t back down against legendary Ireland out-half and all that aggression will be needed again against New Zealand in Chicago tomorrow

Paddy McCarthy is set for his senior Ireland debut against New Zealand at Soldier Field tomorrow. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell first noticed Paddy McCarthy when he trained against the Ireland senior team as an U-20 two years ago. When you’ve a full-blown row with Johnny Sexton, you tend to leave an impression.

Every season, the next generation of players are brought in to take on the senior ones in a live training session, and while in this case it wasn’t supposed to be full contact, McCarthy went all in on Se